Redknapp: Don't write Spurs off

By PA Sport  August 27, 2011

Harry Redknapp insists Tottenham can win the Barclays Premier League title this season.

Spurs seemed genuine contenders for the title last term until a dip in form during the second half of the campaign saw them fall away before they ended the year in fifth position, 18 points behind winners Manchester United, but Redknapp thinks his team are a match for any of their rivals and reckons topping the table next summer is a possibility.

He said: "The favourites would be Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City, but it's not impossible for Liverpool to win it this year and I wouldn't write Arsenal off. They will be strong again and I wouldn't write Tottenham off this year either. It's not impossible."

While Spurs have struggled in the transfer market this summer, United, neighbours City, Liverpool and Chelsea have embarked upon spending sprees while Arsenal are sure to step up their activity in the transfer market soon following the departures of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas.

The fact that Spurs have only been able to sign Brad Friedel on a free transfer and bring in Emmanuel Adebayor on loan means that they are currently 80/1 outsiders to clinch their first league title in 51 years.

Redknapp has been buoyed by Adebayor's arrival though, and appears to have won his battle to keep influential playmaker Luka Modric at the club despite Chelsea's pursuit of the star this summer.

Roberto Mancini, unsurprisingly, has been a busy man in the transfer window this summer, with Nasri, Sergio Aguero and Gael Clichy moving to the Etihad Stadium to bolster a squad already gleaming with stellar names such as Carlos Tevez and David Silva.

Redknapp saw his team pip City to fourth two years ago, but the 64-year-old underlined the difference between the two teams on Friday by claiming that Mancini now has a better squad at his disposal than Barcelona.

Nevertheless, Redknapp maintains that the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Modric could grace any team in the league - something which gives him renewed optimism for the season ahead.

"It's hard to compete but we have good players here so we will compete with anybody," Redknapp added. "We will be right there, pushing this year. It's hard to compete with them in terms of wages and spending but we have some quality and I'm happy with the way they are shaping up."